H. pylori Genome “Recovered” from Ötzi Mummy's Stomach

Abstract

You never know just what to expect analyzing the metagenome of the mummified remains of someone who lived in the eastern Alps during the Copper Age, some 5,000 years ago. Not only did stomach tissues from the Otzi Iceman contain genomic remnants of Helicobacter pylori, but that bacterial DNA sequence corresponds more closely to contemporary strains from Central and South Asia, not Europe, where his mummified remains were found in 1991. Meanwhile, ongoing analysis of Otzi's mitochondrial DNA is illuminating the fate of his descendants.